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White House threatens veto of House intelligence bill

The White House is threatening a veto of the House's version of the annual intelligence authorization act over several provisions, including language that would force disclosure to Congress of information on Guantanamo detainees and that would make the head of the National Security Agency subject to confirmation by the Senate.

"The Administration has serious concerns with several provisions...that would invite conflict between the branches of government," a statement issued by the Office of Management Budget Wednesday said. The statement, which said the President Barack Obama's senior advisers "would recommend a veto" of the bill in its current form, was e-mailed to the press one minute before a House Rules Committee hearing on the legislation (posted here).

Much of the White House's objection to the bill is not public, since it relates to a classified appendix to the legislation. However, the statement said the provision forcing the State Department to turn over all cables and similar records related to Guantanamo detainees could "have a significant adverse impact on the willingness of foreign partners, who often expressly request this information not be disseminated, to communicate frankly on these matters."

The statement also said "the administration strongly objects to" making the NSA director confirmable by the Senate. "The Administration believes that if this provision were to become law, a critical national security position would likely remain unfilled for a significant period of time, adversely impacting the management and function of the National Security Agency," the statement said.

One of the foremost scholars of the National Security Agency, author and journalist James Bamford, said the NSA—which intercepts telephone calls and electronic messages—is certainly significant enough to merit the Senate signing off on those nominated as director.

"The director of National Security Agency [is] basically the most serious intelligence official under the Director of National Intelligence, in the U.S. Government," Bamford said. "He has more people under him than anybody else in the intelligence community and enormous technical capability."

Bamford said many NSA chiefs have testified before Congress, but the secretive spy agency was created by purely executive action. "The NSA was created by a top secret memorandum at the White House. It wasn't even shown to Congress when it was created in back room by Harry Truman in the White House on November 4, 1952."